Blue Spirit
by Shin Maxwell
Summary: What happens when a angry, teenager meets a famous ghost hunting team that he's always admired? Will he continue on his path to jail...or will meeting them be enough to save him? rated for language, violence, and mature themes. Ghost Adventures fic
1. Mine Madness

** authors note: This is one of many ideas that were bugging me, and that I wanted to do. Basically the idea is this...here's the FULL summary.. "what happens when a very angry, troubled teenager on the verge of going to jail for a long time, who has just been released from a previous crime from juvenile hall, meets a famous ghost investigation team after winning an amazing opportunity? Will it be enough to keep him from throwing his life away...or will it make no difference at all?" I don't own the G.A.C folks obviously, nor any "real" locations and such. Only the angry teen, Joey, any mentioned family and such are actually mine, as well as any made up locations. Here goes nothing...no flames if possible please, I'm doing my best...even though I'm a writer second and an artist first!**

** Blue Spirit Chapter 1: Bastion's Mine**

It was an overcast day, the cloud cover turning gray. It seemed to want to rain again, but wasn't doing so yet. The roads were already slick from a previous downpour, so water was kicked up under the tires of a light colored van as it made it's way down the long stretch of road. The red G.A.C logo on the sides stuck out in stark relief against the rest of the van, which was completely white, not including any of the windows. It seemed like they were the only people out on this particular road at the moment, which gave it a creepy feeling.

They were headed to an old abandoned mine, which had no actual name, only being called the Unknown Mine, that had been discovered in the past few years. It was what was inside the shabby wood lined tunnels that mattered most to the inhabitants of the van. They were asked to come investigate it, as there had been many, many reports of unusual things going on, such as invisible hands touching those who went into the mine shafts to make sure they were safe for everyone to enter that needed to. Loud yelling and ghostly echoes of shafts collapsing also were mentioned, except there was no way to explain any of it. This lock down would be one of many that were unique, in that they would be joined by a lucky guest, who won these rare chances to join them.

The front passenger, Zak, looked out his window, as trance music echoed from the headphones over his ears. It was then another person made themselves known, and certainly not in the best way. Out of nowhere a gleaming black motorcycle, with what seemed to be a male driver wearing a flame painted black helmet, came zooming up next to the van, at nearly dangerous speeds for such a rain slicked road. It didn't speed up enough to pass the van, but it had still been going much too fast to appear from seemingly nowhere. The bikes driver turned his head, which gave away that he had indeed seen them, and knew full well he was driving like a maniac to have caught them so fast. The driver then revved the bike up, the front tire just barely lifting off the rain soaked road, before the bike sped ahead of the van, a soft screech heard as he did so. He pulled ahead of the G.A.C van, and sped up impossibly further, to the point where he soon completely disappeared again, as if he'd never been there. But this was no ghost, this was a living breathing being.

"Unbelievable.." Zak mumbled, shaking his head. He looked down to an open folder that was in his lap, which held what little information they had on this first location where they'd have their guest, and what that guests name actually was. That was all they had on their contest winner. Not much longer after the maniac on the motorcycle seemed to disappear, they arrived at their location.

And to Zak's surprise, a very familiar motorcycle was parked not far from the general store that was near the entrance to the mine. It was chained in place very heavily, including the flame marked helmet, the anti-theft measures obvious. It was obvious as to why, the bike seemed extremely new, so naturally the rider wouldn't want it stolen. The van's driver, Nick, got out first, followed by Zak, then the back passenger, Aaron, along with two cameras and one voice recorder for each of them. They had been told back at their motel by the contest guides that they'd be meeting the winner here by this general store, before going to talk to the person who would let them into the mine through a makeshift wood and metal gate. There was no one there for a time except the three of them. That is, until a young man who couldn't have even been 18, or was barely that age, came out of the store with a bottle of fresh water in one hand. He was wearing a set of dark clothing, and a leather riding jacket over his shirt. It was clear he was the insane motorcycle driver from earlier.

Zak took a good look at the teenager, something telling him this was their winner, who was mentioned simply to be male, young, with the name Joseph Lin. The young man before him had very short, spiky hair, dyed a light blue, with his natural black color barely visible at the roots underneath. His skin was the typical pale white of most people, and he stood just slightly shorter than Zak did. His eyes were a dark blue, and seemed to be very angry, besides being obviously narrowed as the younger man walked. His right arm also seemed to have a tattoo of a green snake on it, the head being near the wrist, the rest trailing up until the leather jackets long sleeves. The younger man looked up after a time, and spotted the G.A.C team nearby. He seemed to scoff or exhale sharply, before taking a long drink out of his newly bought bottle of water. He then turned in his path and made his way over.

He stopped a few feet from Zak, and finished his water, crumpling the bottle and shoving it into one jacket pocket. He shifted slightly to one foot, then the other, before standing straight. He opened his mouth, and a mature, voice came forth, showing he was past that fun stage of life when his voice would crack.

"You must be the...Ghost...Adventures Crew correct..?" The tone was smooth, but seemed to have a sarcastic, almost cold under-tone to it. "I'm Joey...the...winner..of the..contest of yours" The more he spoke the colder and angrier he sounded. It was hard to tell if he really was, or if he always sounded the way he did right now. His entire frame, which was lean and hard, built for speed or athletics, was tense. His left ear revealed itself to have a gold stud type earring in it when he turned his head slightly to his right. Zak wasn't sure what to make of him, but he shook himself, then answered Joey.

"Yes, that's us. Welcome to the incoming lock down in the Unknown Mine. You'll be going with us for the interviews and the pre-lock down walk through, as well as the lock down itself" He explained, as the teens face remained in it's free of emotion expression. The eyes were the only to show any emotion at all, and it seemed to still be a deep seated anger. The youngest man present nodded, one sharp tilt of his head, before turning to go to his motorcycle briefly. He pulled off his leather jacket, and stuffed it into a side container on his bike, locking that back up tightly. When he turned, the front of his black shirt had the words "The Ghost Seeker" in green across the front, and it was designed to seem like the letters were dripping acid. The snake tattoo actually took up the entire length of his right arm, the tail tip ending directly over his shoulder.

The young man arched a dark eyebrow, and motioned with a hand, as if to say "well...? we going to get this going or what?". Nearby their guide into the mine was patiently waiting. She was a short, plump, but friendly looking woman. Zak was the one to go an actually talk to her, as Aaron and Nick held their cameras up to film everything.

Joey stood off to the other side of the woman at this point. She did turn for all of a second to talk to him, but one look at a particularly fierce scowl on the young mans face made her think twice about doing so. She continued on with her "tour" of the mine tunnels and entrance calmly, despite being shaken by the young mans expression. Joey reached into his pants pocket, one of many on his black pants, and pulled out an unusual looking set of goggles. One side sported what looked almost like an antenna. He slipped them up onto his head, the lens part resting up on his hair for the time being. He would be using them later. He'd made them himself, hand-made night vision goggles perhaps. It was hard to tell what they were for exactly.

At one point in the tour as it was, Joey stopped dead in his tracks, and turned his head slightly to one side, to listen for something. He wasn't the only one, as one of the others pulled out his voice recorder, and began asking questions. Obviously no response was heard right there, but when they played the recording back, a voice stood out amongst all the white noise. It was heard to tell if it was male or female, but it said one word "Anger". Zak asked what it meant, but there was nothing further after that point.

They finished the tour not long after that. It was time to be locked in not long after that, so they opted to just stay in the main tunnel's entrance, just inside the makeshift wood and metal gate. Eventually Zak looked out and told the plump little lady it was time to lock them in. She nodded, and carefully did just that. Once that was done, Zak went over the X's they put down in different important spots in the mine shafts. Joey leaned against one wall, while he waited for it to go dark, and slid the goggles down over his eyes so he could see in what would become pitch black lighting. It didn't take long for it to go completely dark, leaving them with only night vision to see what they were doing at all. Joey's boots made next to no noise as he walked, despite being steel-toed under the black leather and rather heavy in weight.

He turned his head just slightly side to side as they walked further into the main tunnel, to where it split into several smaller shafts. When they reached the split from one large tunnel into several smaller, he stopped, and the three older men kept walking a bit further before they noticed he'd stopped.

The side of his mouth went up until his teeth on that side were visible, as if he was snarling at something only he could see. He lifted an arm and pointed down the mine shaft he was facing.

"Down there. I know I saw something pass back and forth down this shaft...I think it's saying come and find me...without actually saying it.." he scowled further. 'And it's pissing me off more than I already am' he added to himself inside his head. He lifted a slim hand to the goggles on his head, pressing a previously unseen button on the side that sported the antenna like addition. It changed the goggles slightly, to add some hot and cold vision over the night vision. "I'll go down this tunnel...it wants me...well it's going to get me"

Since they had planned for each of them to take a different tunnel, Zak agreed, with a small amount of hesitation. He took the one to the left of the one Joey had already started down, Nick took the one left of that, and Aaron took the one to the left of that.

In Joey's part of the tunnels, he wasn't seeing anything yet, but he growled to himself, knowing full well something was here. "Come out...I know you want to! Hell..you know you do...or you wouldn't have been taunting me! Try me...I'll face you head on!" He was provoking whatever was here, but he didn't care. He wanted to piss whatever it was off, or to draw it out. "Give me some excitement...give yourself some...you must be awful lonely down here by yourself! With no one to pick on or both..come.." he was cut off when something slammed into the back of his head.

That hit, which felt solid, but may or may not have been, drove the teen to one knee, and nearly knocked his self made goggles off his head. He was seeing double for a brief time, before he was able to stand back up again. "Oh...I see...you have to do it from behind...well..tell me your name so I can call you on it!" No one but him knew this, but he'd also put a voice recorder into the goggles on the left side, opposite of where the antenna piece was. He waited in silence, but then it came. He heard a voice whisper "Bastion..."

"Bastion huh? That was a good hit...but it's cowardly to attack me from behind...you can do better than that to let me know you are here..." He spun around as a loud tapping and scratching noise came from the side of the shaft. He caught the barest glimpse of a figure, before he was struck again, this time from the side he saw it coming from. This time his head hit the side of the mineshaft, and everything went black. Not because his goggles were shattered or damaged, but because his head hit hard enough when it bounced of the stone walls to knock him completely out cold. As a result, he wasn't able to see what happened next. The figure of a young man, about his own age, appeared next to his right hand, which was out in front of him. The full body spirit looked down at him, a misty energy appearing around his body at the edges, before he disappeared again.

Down the hall next to him, Zak was talking, asking questions. He was asking for answers to questions, or for a sign that anything was there. He didn't get much, but a brief tapping sound did occur. He tried one more time before turning around to leave the tunnel, when he caught the following on the small voice recorder in his hand, and it seemed like it was possibly female. "Hurt...shaft" He wasn't sure what to make of it, but it was better than nothing at all. Something was here. He politely thanked whoever spoke, and said if they had anymore to say it would be welcome, and that he wasn't there to cause any harm to anyone who might still be there in the mine. He went back to where the main tunnel split, and found his two friends, Nick and Aaron, had already done the same. Joey however didn't show. After waiting for what seemed like long enough, Zak went down the tunnel where the youngest of them had gone down. He soon tripped on something. "What the hell?" was what he exclaimed, before pointing his night vision camera down, and saw a familiar black boot, which appeared light colored thanks to the night vision. Following it, he soon was faced with the unconscious body of their guest investigator, Joey.

"Shit..!" came the expletive. Especially after the visible dark liquid on the back of the younger mans head. It was probably not a good idea to move him, but Zak put the younger mans arm over his shoulders and lifted him up, half dragging half walking him back to the part of the mine they'd turned into their base as they called it. There was nowhere to put the younger man but the floor unfortunately, so that was all he could do once he got the teen there. Using a flashlight, he took a closer look at the young man's head, and found a small cut on the back of his head, which stained the blue hair there a slight shade of red with the blood that slowly oozed out of it, as it was clotting now. That meant he'd been there like he was for who knows how long.

"Joey..hey..Joey!" Zak shook the teen slightly, by the shoulder. The teen stirred with a pained groan, his eyelids fluttering before sliding open part of the way. He mumbled something that sounded like it might be rather unpleasant, before sitting up. He then went almost white, his skin going pale in the face quickly. Due to the nature of the injury, what happened next was not at all surprising. He ran for a nearby makeshift trash-can, reintroducing whatever he'd eaten plus the water he'd had earlier to the world. After a few seconds of dry-heaving, it was done. He shakily stood up, and looked like he just wanted to collapse again. But he didn't, which was a surprise. Rubbing the back of his head with a hearty flinch, he groaned again, but that turned into an angry growl rather quickly.

"Bastion...you asshole!" he growled out between clenched teeth. It was almost unheard by the others by him, but when Zak's attention focused on him, he knew they'd heard his angry sentence. "What? I said a curse word..so? That...bastard...hit me twice..." The fist that belonged to Joey's tattooed arm clenched so tight his knuckles went white. He took one step and then wobbled so much he ended up on one knee, thanks to the room spinning around him. He glared at the three with him anytime they tried to get near him, eventually getting himself back up to his feet.

"Don't...help me...I don't need it" He growled, blinking heavily for a few seconds. Zak frowned, not understanding where the younger man's anger was coming from at all. He seemed to have an awful lot of it.

"There is nothing wrong with asking for it...besides...you won't be able to do anything to help with the investigation of this mine with a head injury..I can't let you go back into the smaller shafts like this..." said Zak. He turned to his two friends.

"You two go back to the shaft where we found Joey, and see if you get anything more about this Bastion being mentioned" Nick and Aaron nodded, and checked their gear to be sure nothing drained it trying to appear, before turning and heading back into the largest mineshaft nearby, while Zak stayed behind for the time being. Joey was shifting from foot to foot, in an angry manner, which was nothing new. He was grinding his teeth together, and he was anxious to go provoke the spirit called "Bastion" into another face off...and this time he'd give it hell for the cowardly knock out. Or the knock out he considered cowardly. But he also knew he had to listen to the seasoned investigators, at least...for now. He eventually paced in a circle for a time, much like a caged animal, before coughing and sitting down right where he stopped. Folding his arms over his chest he waited. A startled shout from one of the distant mine shafts made him jump, and soon Aaron ran in, all out of breath and excited..or scared..it was hard to tell exactly.

"Dude...you have to hear this...seriously!" He held up his voice recorder, and hit the play button with his thumb.

"Find...hurt...in shaft...Bastion..." It was a broken sentence, but the meaning of it was quite clear after a moments though.

"So that's what the voice I heard before meant when it said hurt..shaft...it was talking about Joey..!" came the response from Zak. "Wait...this one also mentioned Bastion...that name..if that's what it is...had been said in evp's several times already...!"

"And that's the damned thing that knocked me out in that mine shaft!" growled Joey, giving his sore head another careful rub. "At least...I'm pretty sure it was...I was hit after I heard that name..." He got up from where he was sitting, and was able to stand without the room spinning finally. He was itching to just run back into the shaft where he was knocked out, but he couldn't get in trouble again, regardless of how small it was. He was always in enough trouble as it is. Nick came into the room next, and said he hadn't caught anything. After a check of the time, it was soon realized they'd been in there longer than they'd expected, and it was almost time to leave. They packed up their gear, and went to wait for the lady from before to open the makeshift gate. Soon after the gate was unlocked and slid open. Joey went out last, looking over his left shoulder once, and narrowing his eyes as he caught the barest hint of a figure standing where they had been waiting before, before the "gate" was slid shut and locked back up again. He could have sworn he heard a man laughing as it was closed. He hated the ghost called "Bastion" already.

Turning back around, he walked a brisk walk towards his motorcycle, hands shoved into his pants pockets. He wasn't looking up at first, but when he did, he walked faster, passing Zak, Nick, and Aaron.

"HEY! Get away from my bike!" he half-shouted, to a couple of other guys standing far too close to it, and looking at it too much for his liking. "Take a picture...it will last longer!" When they didn't, he moved closer and repeated himself. One of the guys standing there sneered at him, and said who is gonna make him move.

"Who will make me move twerp? You? I doubt it. This is a nice bike. I could use this to replace the old one I trashed last month...just try and stop me from breaking the chains on it!" That was a huge mistake to make. Still hyped on adrenaline leftover from being knocked out by Bastion, the annoying spirit back in the Unknown Mine, and despite the throbbing ache at the back of his head, Joey reacted in a surprising manner. Before anyone could do anything to stop the teenager, Joey slammed his right fist into the man's face, knocking him back into his friend.

"I said...get...away...from...my bike!" the teen growled, his hand not even hurting a bit, due to past fights. He had controlled his volatile anger the entire night until now, but he finally had enough. His annoyance and anger towards Bastion was showing through in his reaction to the morons by his bike. The idiot's friend made a move towards Joey, and an all out fight broke out after a few seconds. The sound of the scuffle got the investigator's attention from where they were putting their gear into the back of their white van when Joey was shoved against his motorcycle.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hey!" Despite it being something they really shouldn't interfere in, Zak ran over and pushed his way between Joey and the idiot's friend, as said idiot continued to groan from where he was laid out by Joey's punch. Joey was strong, but not strong enough to get by Zak. He yelled over Zak's shoulder.

"Take that IDIOT friend of yours and get away from my motorcycle..I swear!" The idiot's friend coughed, and dragged his friend up and into their battered old pick-up, which he then drove off at a fast rate, at least as fast as the old truck could go. Joey's shirt was dirty, but he showed no outward signs that he'd been hit at all. He broke away from Zak, and checked his bike where he'd been shoved into it. Thankfully it wasn't damage other than some scuffs which he cleaned with the edge of his t-shirt. He pulled the chain key from his pocket and was starting to unlocked the chains that kept his bike in place, when Zak came up behind him.

"What was that about?" the older man said. Joey scoffed or exhaled sharply, and shoved the chains into a side holder attached to the back of his bike. "Well...?"

"I don't like IDIOT'S like them near my motorcycle. Hell, I don't like ANYONE near my bike. That's it. He pushed his luck too fucking far when he threatened to steal it to replace his own trashed piece of crap" The teen forcefully shoved his helmet on, flinching as the back hit the sore spot on his head. He swung his leg over until he was straddling the bike. "Now back to the hotel or whatever to sleep and such right? I'm assuming I'm at the same one as you guys.." he was being particularly rude right now, but he did admire the three of them regardless of that. That was why he was allowed to enter the "contest" as it was. It was some peoples hope it would keep him out the trouble he was headed straight into. His volatile temper, something he did get from family, as his family had a history of people with horrible tempers, didn't help matters at all.

Zak sighed, but nodded. "We'll be looking over everything we recorded tomorrow...you can help with that if you want" he stepped back from Joey's motorcycle, as the teen gave one curt nod and revved it up. Joey slid down the helmet's visor, then revved the bike up one more time, before peeling out of where he'd been parked, dust and dirt sent flying up in the air behind him as he did so. Zak watched him leave, then got into the driver's seat of the van, going the same way, to the same place possibly. After a few minutes, he noticed he'd caught up to the younger man , thanks to a slow moving semi truck in front of him.

Soon enough they got back to the Best Western they were staying at, and it turns out Joey had been right, as he too pulled into the parking lot in front of the building. The younger man slid off his bike and chained it up good again, just like near the mine. Only this place had metal poles deeply embedded into the asphalt, so it made it even harder to steal. He removed the helmet and put it under one arm, before going into the hotel/motel, whatever it was.

Heading up a couple of flights of stairs, Joey walked down a hallway once he got to his floor and went into his room, which was number 317. He had no idea he was right next to Zak, and across from Nick and Aaron, who had rooms on the other side. Zak and the others however knew where he was, as they'd arrived to their rooms right after him, and saw him close the door behind him with the heel of one foot.

Inside his room, Joey toss his helmet onto one of the two chairs, then fell back onto the king sized bed, arms spread out, looking at the ceiling. He slid his eyes shut, as a single tear worked it's way down his cheek.

"Mother...I miss you...I don't think I'll ever stop that...maybe I'll find you someday..." That was part of the reason for his interest in the paranormal, but not the only one. He also just loved the stuff period. Despite how rude he was being, and angry, he was enjoying every second of this. After a few minutes of laying as he was, a noise startled him and he shot up into a sitting position. For a split second he thought he saw the ghost from the mine, but that was impossible. A ghost like that couldn't move from where he was trapped..it just didn't happen. "I need sleep...I was in that tunnel too long.." he shook his head and went right back down to the way he was before, after removing his shirt due to being hot that is.

The next time he heard a sound was because it was actually around dinner time, and it was a knock at his rooms door. Sitting up and stretching, wincing when some bones creaked noisily, he got up and smoothed his spiky hair out a little so it wasn't as messy.

"Huh...thought I put the do not disturb thing up...guess I forgot..." He yawned, and looked through the peephole to see who it was. It turned out to be Zak and the other two. He unlocked it and opened it just enough to be able to see them. "yeah?" he mumbled, partly from still being half asleep. He took awhile to wake up fully.

"We're going to get something to eat if you want to join in at the diner next door to this place" said Zak, and Joey nodded just slightly.

"Yeah...I guess I could use food...real food...one minute..." He stifled another yawn and shut the door. When he turned around, he had to stifle a surprised shout. He was certainly awake now. In front of him by the rooms window was the spirit from the mine, Bastion. Joey frowned. "What are you doing here? I thought ghosts couldn't move from where they were trapped..."

There was no answer, as Bastion only looked at him briefly before fading out of view. Joey growled low to himself.

"I hate it when these things do that..bah!" He tied the laces to his footwear then moved towards the door, grabbing his coat as he exited the room he was staying in. he didn't see Bastion reappear behind him as the door quietly shut.

"...be careful...things won't always be so easy..." was all the ghost whispered, before disappearing, again. Too bad Joey wasn't there to hear the words, which may or may not have been a warning, and may be the reason Bastion was able to leave the mine he was "found" in.

**end chapter 1.**

Wow...I got to just over 7 pages with this...I just got going once I started! Please keep in mind I am an ARTIST first, not a writer, so I know there is NO way this is perfect. I will gladly read reviews...but please no flames or nasty comments if possible! Now for some info..sort of. Bastion will be a very important figure for Joey in the future in more ways than just a "guardian ghost" as he is now. But I can't and won't say too much!Thanks for reading and please..review if you want to!


	2. Guns of Gettysburg

**authors note: I was completely surprised after I posted the first chapter of this, but also completely thrilled and pleased this story was liked by at least one person..so thanks for that...you know who you are! Also, I may have seen certain episodes, but I don't remember EVERYTHING about them, so things won't be completely accurate...like names of people being interviewed, where exactly was investigated, etc .which might actually be a good thing! So here we go again...and remember...same disclaimer as the first chapter! (Also if you know how I can make the story look better than it is in regards to formatting please tell me...until then I'll do what I can to at least keep paragraphs separated! Thanks!**

** Blue Spirit Chapter 2: Guns of Gettysburg**

A few days after looking over whatever they had gotten during the lock down in Bastion's Mine, as Joey now called it, the Ghost Adventures crew and their guest were on the way to their next location. This would be a big one. Joey was inwardly extremely excited about this one, as he'd always wanted to visit it, as a ghost hunter or not, it didn't matter. This was part of history that he actually knew quite a bit about when he was still a student back where he came from. When he saw the sign as he drove his motorcycle past, the G.A.C crew close behind in their van, he couldn't help but grin under his helmet where no one else could see it.

"Gettysburg...finally...this is a dream come true...!" He said to himself, going around a curve. He was looking for an old style village of sorts that wasn't far from the actual battlefield, and was a site of much to do with the Civil War. It didn't take long to find it after going around another curve in the road, and he drove in, stopping off to the side when he caught Zak's hand signal in his side view mirror on his bike. Stepping off, he did the whole chain routine, helmet and all, before anxiously waiting for the others, while not outwardly showing it. He shifted from foot to foot, one of his ways to avoid fully showing his impatience with a situation. As soon as the others joined him, he relaxed.

"This is...just...I can't believe I get to come along on this one...I never got to come here for field trips or anything before..." He said, as they walked towards whoever was going to show them their first stop, which had something to do with the only civilian casualty of the Civil War. It was said that when Jennie Wade was in the kitchen looking for something, a shot from an enemy soldier went through the door, and struck her, killing her where she stood. As the friendly person explained to them about everything to do with the house, Joey couldn't help but look around, and feeling like he'd stepped back in time to another world so to speak.

The next house they visited was multi-purpose in a way..or it used to be. Now it had been converted into a museum. It was once a rather depressing orphanage house, run by a horrible woman, who hated children it seemed, but still was the "matron" of the building. Joey hated her before they even got into the building, and it only grew as he heard what the woman did to the poor children. Especially when he heard about the "dark room" where they often got chained for up to four days at a time in total darkness. He would have to take his chances and get this lady to show herself...somehow. He wanted to ask her, badly, why the hell she was even a "matron" in this orphanage is she hated children so much. That didn't really make sense to Joey.

The last spot they would investigate was a railroad station of sorts, and the guy who explained the area to them told them that it would be near impossible not to get something at this particular spot. Zak nodded at that, and pulled out a gun filled with blanks, that he said he would use as a trigger object to try and bring something out. Trigger objects usually worked, so it was a good idea.

But before the lock down would begin that evening, they were dressed up in union uniforms and put into a re-enactment of a battle that may have taken place back then, in the middle of their camp and all. They would act like they were responding to a southern ambush while they were resting around a camp-fire near their tents. Aaron got "shot" first and went down almost right away, while Nick took a bit longer, but didn't get as "badly hurt". Zak put up a good fight, fake as it was, having to be stopped by his fellow "soldiers", as did Joey, whose street fighting skills he'd picked up as years passed came in handy when using the rifle and it's attached bayonet to fight with. He eventually went down onto his knees to relax, once the opposing soldiers were fully defeated.

Once it was done, Zak asked if he could have a spare union soldier cap to wear at some point during the lock down, and he was handed one. There was a spare, and it was offered to Joey of all people, who took it, surprised at the offer. He wasn't going to pass it up though, and put it onto his head right after taking it.

"Thanks...!" He said, not quite friendly, but nowhere near his usual tone, which was often cold and hard sounding. Wearing the Union hats might even help with looking for spirits later in the evening. They had time before they had to be there, so a helpful local led them to a period themed cafe where she said they could get some "damned fine" home style cooking. That was blunt and to the point, and Joey liked the sound of it. He didn't..like to think of the last time he'd had home style cooking done for him. It was part of the reason why has was kind of an asshole all the time to people.

The menu was very simple, being the type of foods the people back then would have eaten. Pies, meat, with mashed potatoes and such were available. Joey spotted his favorite type of pie on the menu, and couldn't resist getting a slice of it to eat after his main meal. Which was..meat and potatoes of course. He inhaled deeply when it arrived, and could barely avoid drooling with how wonderful it smelled. He dug right in, and it didn't take him long to finish off all of it. 'Wow...just like...home...used..to be...' he thought after taking the last bite he had of his pie.

All too soon it was time to leave the little "cafe" and head back to their first spot to check out. It was the nightmare that was a former orphanage building turned museum, with the supposed matron, Rosa Carmichael, still...living inside. Joey badly wanted to tell her a few things, none of them all too nice. He waited by a wall as they were all locked into this part of things. What a place to start things off. And as soon as it was time to begin, he looked up at the ceiling, eyes narrowed. 'Just you wait Rosa...I'll get answers out of you one way or another...' he stood up straight and followed the others into the basement where the 'hole" was that the poor children often got stuffed into, complete with chains, for up to four days...even for something simple as trying to get some food before a meal time.

Zak went into the hole, barely able to sit up, and began provoking for a response, any response, while Aaron did some voice work upstairs in the museum, and Nick waited just outside the hole in the wall. Joey wandered a little bit further into the basement, out of full hearing range, and began his own taunts. One of the recorders caught a voice saying "I never killed again", but it was hard to tell who or what was saying it.

"Alright lady...you want to tell me why the hell you were a orphanage matron if you hated kids so much? That makes no sense!" he continued with this until he heard Zak say he was coming out, after a small rant on not mentioning snakes when he was in a small dark area. Joey scoffed when he got not answer, after reviewing his own recorder to be sure.

"Figures..." he mumbled, turning when he was called for. It was time to go to the next building, the Jenny Wade house, where the first civilian casualty occurred during the Civil War. As they made their way up the stairs, Aaron's recorder caught someone saying "I want the money" or something similar.

It didn't take long to get to Jenny's house, and they were locked in. It wouldn't be a long visit, but hopefully long enough to get something evidence wise. Zak was still wearing a northern army hat, and now had a backpack on his back. He was using a device that had a dictionary built in, that a spirit could use in an attempt to communicate with the living. Joey stayed at the back, barely able to keep himself from yelling, knowing full well he was still being followed by Bastion. He really wanted to know why this particular spirit was constantly around, and how he was even able to leave the mine he was first seen in.

He was suddenly shaken out of his angry line of thinking, when the device Zak was using went off. "Drink" was what it said. Joey watched Zak and Aaron react, and then ask what was being offered or available to drink. It didn't take long for the next response "Water" to be heard.

"Water? That's what you have?" asked Zak, followed by Aaron making a comment about something that should have been obvious but wasn't.

"Dude..your backpack and hat...she must think you are a union soldier and is trying to help you" was what he said. Zak blinked, but then turned his head to face the stove.

"You are trying to help me...thank you Jenny" was all he said. They got no more from the device, at least not in the kitchen room. The next stop was a basement room in the building connected to this house, where a model of Jenny's body wrapped in a sheet was on a makeshift bed down below. Her dad's spirit was even said to haunt the house, or parts of it at least, and as a result Zak attempted to get a reaction to his next move. He climbed over and partially on top of the model, mentioning something about Jenny. He suddenly jumped off and away from it, to some distance off.

"Something just grabbed my butt!" he shouted. Nearby Joey blinked, before the corners of his mouth twitched, turning just slightly upward into a smile..sort of. It was funny in a way. As annoyed as he was, he got a kick out of the whole situation, and even thought he heard Bastion's ghostly, echoing laughter. Or he could have been imagining it again. He stood up straighter after a few, as he heard it was time to go to the last spot, which was outdoors. It involved a train yard where minor battles and fighting often occurred, along with major fighting. Zak had a prop gun filled with blanks that he brought along to use as a trigger object, no pun intended in this case. He was going to shoot it into the air, to see if it would bring anything out. He had Nick bring a night vision camera, that worked with heat. Anything body temperature would show up warmer than the cool air around it. That included spirits.

It was a balmy night, not too cold, not too hot. Zak lifted the gun up and fired a single blank shot into the air, and then asked questions before beginning to scan the area with the camera. Bastion's presence near Joey abruptly disappeared, briefly surprising the blue haired teenager. He had almost gotten used to the as of yet annoying ghost being around. He could have sworn the spirit was...afraid...to be there after the shot was fired. If that was true...then could Bastion possibly be from the same time frame as the Civil War? Or even had participated on one side or the other. Joey stored this possible information away in the back of his mind. A startled shout from Nick got his attention. He had been watching the tiny camera screen as Zak panned across the train yard.

He told Zak to rewind the footage a few seconds. He then said stop and pointed to where he saw a figure walk out, and then possibly turn and point it ghostly weapon their direction. Zak went back to the spot again after doing so, and there was nothing there when he did. It looks like his gunshot did get attention alright. Not long after that, Bastion reappeared. Not so he could be seen of course, but Joey could feel him return. He would have to ask the spirit what was up with the vanishing act, no pun intended, when he could. They did the same thing again, but no spirit this time. But it didn't matter, it was good evidence regardless. Joey looked up, and could see the barest hints off day light starting to appear, as the stars above disappeared. He exhaled, his breath visible in the cool night air.

Then, before he knew it, it was time to be "let out" of their investigation so to speak. Zak thanked those that showed them around for allowing them to do this, and then it was time to return to wherever they were staying to look over evidence, get some good, and definitely some sleep. Joey didn't have to help with the evidence, but he offered to do so anyway. The help was welcome, so he was given the voice recorders to check. It didn't take him long to find the part where someone asked Zak if he would like a drink of water.

When they were done with the reviews, Joey trudged back to his room to take a nap before dinner. He didn't get much. His cell phone, sitting on the end table besides the bed, buzzed, as he had it set to vibrate on purpose. Picking it up, the teen groaned when he saw it was Peter, his father. He knew he'd better answer or else...besides..it might be news about his mother. When he'd said he would find her before, he meant he would find some way to make her feel better. She had always loved ghosts, so that was on reason he did so much and became a ghost hunter. He lifted the phone to his ear, after pressing the green answer button.

"Yeah?" came his typical greeting meant for someone he actually knew. He was more formal with a stranger. "What...? Speak louder..I can't hear you..." he moved away from the window to his room. A few seconds later, his dark blue eyes went wide, and the phone slid from his hand, landing at his feet. It hit button side down, and went off, as in power off.

"No...no...no..no!" Joey whispered. Something inside his head gave way, and he did something he'd never done before. He passed out, body falling to the floor with a reasonably loud thump noise. But it wasn't enough for anyone to hear in another room anywhere, not even below his. That is...anyone alive. Bastion hovered outside the window, his expression sad. He could hear what was said where he was, and it wasn't good.

End chapter 2!

Ooh...I'm an evil little..you know...ain't I? Sorry this took so long to put out there, and sorry it's not as long as the last chapter was but...computer trouble and health issues screwed up my plans..let me tell you! You'll find out either next chapter or the next just what Joey heard on his cell phone that has him upset! Also, I am amazed that even a few people like this enough to put it on alerts or favorite it, and I thank you all..I really do! Thank you! And thank you to the G.A.C for such an amazing show..it's an inspiration to me for this!


	3. Povelgia Possession Panic

** authors note: Alright...time for another chapter! Same disclaimer as always of course! I can only wish I could meet these guys and tell them in person how much I love their show! Now in this chapter instead of Zak getting possessed, like he did, it will be Joey instead. Despite that...hope you enjoy it!**

** Blue Spirit Chapter 3: Povelgia Possession Panic**

The call a few day earlier has shaken Joey to the core, but he had gotten far too good at concealing his emotions. As a result, it often turned into violent bursts of rage. He was too stubborn to talk to anyone about anything, not that he had anyone to talk to in the first place, at least that's what he believed. He often desperately wished that he had an older brother, but his mother couldn't have any more children for health reasons after himself.

Shaking his head, Joey slid off the bed in his hotel room. It was still complete dark outside, so it was nowhere near morning yet. Soon they would be headed to the nearby airport to catch a plane that would fly them non stop to Italy, and their next location. And this was not going to be a pretty one, not that any of them really ever were.

Moving to the small bathroom nearby, he turned on the light and looked at himself in the mirror. His blue and black hair was messier than usual, sticking up in every direction. What little sleep he has was very restless. Reaching into his little toiletries bag, he pulled out a small bottle of hair gel, and went about putting his hair back to the way it usually looked. When he was done, he tossed the gel back into his little bag, and walked back out of the bathroom. He turned on a nearby lamp. He wasn't going to get back to sleep now...he couldn't. Too much was racing through his mind. Shutting his eyes, he exhaled heavily, then grabbed a book his brought with him and sat down by the lamp, opening it to read. It was a non-fiction book about famous haunted places of course. There was nothing else he really read lately.

Before he knew it, one of the guys was knocking at his door saying it was time to go. Joey stood and quickly packed his small suitcase on wheels, then opened the door and came out. He took very little time to get himself going. Something that carried over from the few months he spent in juvenile hall, which he refused to tell the guys about, whenever they asked him questions about what he did in the past for something to do while eating or some other thing. He walked out of his room, closing the door behind him, and followed the older men to a shuttle waiting outside the front doors of the hotel. The driver put their bags into a compartment on the side of the vehicle, then directed them in, before getting going. The shuttle pulled away from the curb, and Joey held onto a metal rod inside, looking out the window by his head. He watching the buildings outside pass by, before the shuttle entered a tunnel that went directly to their side of the airport where they had to check any large bags in. Only Nick and Aaron had bags that large, so they waited in line to check them in while Zak and Joey waited for them off to the side near the security gates.

Just under an hour after they got through the security lines, boarding calls went out for their plane, with the four of them being among the first on. Apparently this trip, to and from Italy, warranted first class seats. It wasn't the high end business class end of the plane, but it was still better than the back of it. At least the seats went much further back thanks to more space. Joey stood on his tip toes and shoved his bag into an overhead bin, before sitting in his window seat. They got a group of four seats, with two facing the other, and a small table in between them. Joey opted for the window seat because he did like to look at the earth and clouds below wherever the plane would fly.

Once everyone was on and buckled in safely, the plane backed out of where it was, and made it's way to the runway. In the back of his mind as the plane rumbled forward, gaining speed for take off, Joey heard Bastion speak, repeating the same thing over and over. "This is not a good idea...this is not a good idea..." Joey wasn't sure what he meant by that, but looked out the window as the plane took off, finally starting it's non-stop trip to Italy. When they landed over there, they'd take a shuttle to their hotel in Venice, which is where the island they were headed to was situated by.

After a couple of hours of flying, Joey grabbed one of the tiny pillows they all got and put his seat back as far as it could go. He put his head on the pillow, then dragged the thin blanket he also got up over his body and turned on his side to face the window of the plane he was sitting by. He was out in minutes, but the others were awake awhile longer. Zak, in the seat next to him, glanced at the younger man briefly, before turning back to face his friends.

"Something isn't the same with our young investigator here now...I can't figure it out...but...it's just...off.." he couldn't seem to speak properly, as he whispered the words to Nick and Aaron. Joey's unseen ghost companion, Bastion, couldn't voice the words aloud, but agreed with Zak on every bit of what he said. Soon enough the plane was above the clouds, what few there were and the land below looked like patches of different plants and earth. Joey only stirred once the entire trip, and it was to take a quick bathroom break. Then he was back into the land of sleep. The next time he woke up, it was because someone shook him awake.

"Yo...Joey...wake up kid. We're coming in for the landing" It was Zak, who had the seat next to him. Joey grumbled, but sat up, setting his seat back into an upright position. He yawned with a slight stretch, then opened his dark blue eyes, gazing about in a half asleep state. The plane went down through a cloud, and in the next instant, he could see Italy below.

"Wow..." he said softly, looking at the buildings below. The plane soon landed at the nearest airport to Venice, and, after converting money to Italian currency and getting their luggage from baggage claim, they hopped into a "taxi" and told it to go to their hotel. Joey pulled his digital camera from his backpack, and turned it on, taking pictures here and there. Going over a small bridge, they were suddenly in Venice, and Joey could make out Povelgia island, their lockdown destination, out in the the water nearby. It didn't look like much from there, but they wouldn't be here for no reason. Something was up with the island, and that's why they were here. After being dropped off, they checked in and dropped their bags off in the rooms they got. All they took was the required equipment they would need that night for the lock down.

After a quick lunch, they went to meet their first guide, who would take them to get a boat to the island, where he would explain more about the island's history. The water was a touch rough as the little boat took them over, but they got there. Joey shivered as soon as he set foot on the island, a sudden ache at his temples also hitting him. All of a sudden he had a feeling something was not right with this island. He turned to listen as it was explained that this island was where doctors wearing creepy masks brought people infected with the Black Plague to die basically. This island was pretty much a death sentence for anyone brought over.

'Damn...that's a breeding ground for hell...' he thought, knowing all too well what a place like this could be like once night fell. There was even a doctor who apparently went insane some say, and committed suicide as a result by jumping from what was a bell tower. Another addition to what would possibly become utter hell. Their guide eventually refused to go inside any part of the island, and they respected that. The boat took them back, and would be waiting for them later to return to the island.

When he got back to his room, he jumped briefly when he spotted the shaggy haired spirit known as Bastion by his window. Joey then shut the door behind him and moved into the room further, turning on the over head light as he did.

"Alright...what is it this time?" he said, looking right at the spirit.

"I don't think this island is a good idea...I...I just get the feeling it isn't...right...and that something will go wrong and..." Joey cut Bastion off right here.

"It's a haunted island...supposedly...and just like anywhere else, something could go wrong. That's nothing new" he responded, throwing himself down on the surprisingly soft bed.

"yes...but this isn't like other places...please...this is a bad idea!" Joey lifted his head and narrowed his eyes.

"It has to be visited. That's a risk investigators have to be willing to take. Even me. So enough. I'm going, and you can't convince me not to" Joey put his head back down, and looked back at the ceiling.

"...Fine...I'm still following you all there...but you'll see...I know I'm right..." The spirit faded from view entirely as always. Joey exhaled sharply and covered his eyes with one arm.

"Right...whatever..." he mumbled. Waiting to go to a spot once in the proper area was the most boring part of things in his opinion. Luckily, it didn't seem to take long this time, and the knock at his door seemed to come almost instantly after Bastion vanished. He sat up, then grabbed his own recorder, self made goggles, and digital camera, and exited the room. Of course at first Bastion was on the verge of being proved right, when their boats motor failed. But then it started working again, and off they went, back to Povelgia island. The boat driver dropped them off, and sped away, hopefully to return as he is supposed to at dawn.

They set up "base camp" as it was, and went over their X's that they'd put down earlier, one of which was at the base of the clock tower the insane doctor was said to have climbed to the top of and jumped from. As they did, the pressure around Joey's eyes and temples got worse, and he had to rub them more than once when no one was looking. It soon became pitch dark, so Joey slid his goggles down and turned them on so he could see with the night vision feature he'd installed in them. The ruins as they were of the biggest building looked even creepier than usual. Walking through the building, the pressure in Joey's head soon became damned near unbearable, but he just grit his teeth, and kept quiet about it.

However, after Zak taunted the spirits, specifically the insane doctors, the feeling changed. Instead of a normal pressure, it changed into a feeling of being attacked or held, and he finally cried out.

"...! Argh...NO! NO! NO!" he nearly chanted, catching the others attention, as he slammed a fist into a crumbling wall, his back turned. Putting the other fist up on the wall next, he kept his head down, as his entire body trembled.

"Joey? What's the matter?" said Zak, moving to go near him. But Nick abruptly got in the way, and told him to wait.

"Stop...something is wrong Zak.." his friend said, as Aaron stood nearby, his camera pointed in Joey's direction. The youngest mans body still trembled for a bit more, as he continued to repeat the word NO under his breath. And then, silence, and it seemed like even the air around Joey's body went still. The teen's chest shook, but this time it was because he was laughing. A dark, insane laugh came from between his lips.

"Ha..ha...hahahahaha!" The teen's voice seemed to have two tones, his normal voice, and a darker, older, angrier voice echoing over it. "Perfect...!" Joey's body straightened, and turned, the goggles up in his shaggy blue hair. The teen's dark blue eyes had an evil, darker tint to them as well.

"I thought I would be taking over your body.." he meant Zak, "but no..this one...this..boy...his body is even better for me..hahaha...!" Whatever had a hold of him made the teen's body look around. "Interesting...I'd forgotten how much this has changed...but I've had time to watch...and wait...for the perfect victim...ha...finally it's come..! I will not make the same mistake twice...!" It didn't take long to figure out it wasn't a demonic spirit, but that of the insane doctor.

"Rage...hatred...violence...it all brews inside this teenager's body...perfect...just...perfect!" The spirit possessed Joey kept saying.

"Let him go...try me on for size!" Zak tried to draw the spirit out, but it didn't work. Joey's possessed body just arched a thin eyebrow at the older man.

"No...I found my perfect husk to control...so much hatred...I love it!" The spirit clearly hadn't lost his insanity, even after hundreds of years. "I...wait...what's this...oh ho ho...still fighting me I see...I don't think so boy..." he was clearly talking to Joey's actual soul, who had been pushed aside when he was taken over. "wait...how? NO!" The teen tossed a hand up to his head and gripped his hair so tight his knuckles went white. He backed away from Zak, as his other hand made it's way to his hair as well.

"NO! Get out of...my.." the teen went back and forth between himself and the evil spirit. "Your body is mine now...quit fighting it!" With a heavy inhale, and a deep breath, the teen abruptly threw his head back, and it hit the stone behind him with a horrible sounding thwack. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed, with a soft sound. The echoes of the doctor's spirit seemed to cry out, before something else seemed to chase it away. Bastion, who had followed them to the island after all despite his misgivings, chased the doctor out of the building, unseen by all, even Joey, who normally was the only one who could. The stone was weak, so Joey's head left a crack in the aged minerals.

Standing in shock at first, Zak just looked at the teenager's unmoving body, before snapping out of it, and nearly running over to him. He knelt down on one knee, and gently turned the teenager over. The teens eyes were open, so he wasn't entirely out of it yet. Joey's dark blue eyes darted to Zak, and unseen by the man over him, a tear escaped from his left eye and made it's way to the dusty, aged floor beneath his body. Then his eyes slid shut, and his head tilted to one side. He was finally unconscious, and would remain that way for a long time, with the force he put behind his head hit against the wall. Bastion returned, and knelt on the other side of Joey, looking down on him sadly. He had figured something bad would happen, but this wasn't it.

"They want us to die here..." Zak said out loud so the other two could hear him. "But that isn't going to happen..." he wanted to wake the teenager up, but it could do more harm than good. He had no choice but to lift the teen up, and take him back to their base camp.

Joey's head seemed to flop lifelessly over one of Zak's arms, as he carried him into "camp" and set him down, propping the teen's head up on a duffel bag.

"Come on...we have no choice but to continue..there's a field to check out yet..." he looked at the old doctor's mask in one hand, before turning away from Joey to get what he needed yet for the next part of the lock down. Once he had it, he glanced at the youngest of them again briefly, before turning away and walking,at a relatively fast pace,to the field they'd been shown before that he wanted to investigate.

No more than 5 minutes after they left, Joey stirred, and his eyes open just a touch, his vision still off. His head hurt like hell, but he struggled into a sitting position, fighting off the nausea the movement caused. He could faintly make out Bastion trying to tell him to stay still,but he would have none of it. Something wasn't right, and he knew it. It dawned on him why, and he hurried into a standing position, nearly toppling over again as the room spun for a minute.

"Quiet Bastion...th-the doctor i-is back...I have to.." he paused a second, then continued "to get to th-the guys...I can just feel they are in tr-trouble and they don't even know it...especially Z-zak..." He gathered himself up, and despite his headache, ran in the direction he felt he should go. Bastion didn't like it,but he followed Joey regardless. He felt a connection with the teen, he just didn't know what it was or why yet. Unable to do much else, Bastion could only direct Joey in the right directions, in pitch black, as he ran, hopefully towards the others.

With a wince, Joey slid his self made night vision goggles down over his eyes and turned them on, and he berated himself for not thinking of using them sooner. Then again, his head still hurt like hell after his stunt earlier. He eventually spotted a small bridge with a camera standing on it, and in the field beyond, stood Nick and Aaron filming Zak, who was walking around, wearing the doctor's mask, yelling "remember me?" and the Italian word for doctor over and over. It was then his goggles alerted him to a spirit like the were built for, and it was headed for Zak, from the side.

"No you don't...!" He growled, and knowing the risk of another possession, in fact knowing he WOULD be taken over again, he willingly ran into the field and got in the way some distance from where Zak was. Aaron's startled shout let him know in the second before the unseen force hit, that he'd been seen. The shout got the others attention and they both spun around, only Nick able to see thanks to his camera. Everything was completely dark yet for Zak, who could only ask what was going on.

"Zak..! It's Joey..he's.." Aaron started to say, but he was caught off by a very familiar chilling voice from before, layered over Joey's normal voice, making him sound like he was speaking with an echo again.

"Not here...hahaha...I can say I'm surprised he would come out here with me running...around...so to speak..." The goggles over Joey's eyes luckily blocked how dark and evil they'd become, again. "And it will be a lot harder to get me out this time...no wall to slam his head against out here" And then his voice changed, briefly, to Joey's normal tone.

"No...but.." He managed to fight the evil spirit enough to make his body turn. Not far away was the edge of the field, and below the small ledge of land there, was water. 'There is...ice cold...salt water..." Joey's eyes widened, but he didn't do the movement. And then he was in motion, although he practically ran in every direction and Joey and the insane doctor spirit fought over his body for control of it.

It was obvious who got control at the last minute, when the teen launched himself off land into the icy water with a loud and violent splash. He didn't surface right away, but he eventually did. He began to tread water, and he was very lucky there was no current or riptides and such at the moment. But the water was like ice, and he kept his mouth closed as possible to avoid making his teeth tapping together as he shivered too obvious. Coughing, he spit out the nasty tasting water, and looked up a little. A hand reached down, and he was barely able to reach it. The hand gave an almighty tug, and pulled him out enough to where he could crawl the rest of the way up. He turned his head, body still shaking like crazy from the cold water he was soaked with, and noted the sky getting light in the distance. He was abruptly picked up, and carried back to "base camp", before he could protest, not that he was really able. He was shaking and shivering too much to really get a word out of his mouth. It was a long few minutes to wait until they were let out, to go to the boat waiting for them.

He was helped past the concerned boat driver and the person who let them out, and put in the middle of the boat. He barely heard Zak tell the boat driver to drive, and to drive as fast as was safely possible. By the time they got back to the mainland as it was, he felt like a walking ice cube. Thankfully their hotel wasn't too far away. It was closer than the nearest hospital even. He felt his key card taken from his hand before he could do much, which was in a way a good thing, as his hand was shaking too much to even get the key in the slot properly. He drew the line at his clothes however, still awake enough to handle that part himself. Shy about doing what was required next, he convinced the others to allow him surround himself in multiple blankets on the hotel room's small bed once he was done. They turned around to look at nothing in different directions, and he let them know it was okay once he had enough blankets over him. Thank god for the extras they got on request. He desperately wished for his mother, but she was too far away to help him now.

He was a right wimp when he wasn't full health as it was, so he turned pleading, nearly child-like dark blue eyes to look at Zak and the others. It was like he was silently begging for help or someone to start talking to him while he laid there under the covers. Zak rose to the challenge, not that it was one. He sat on the end of the teen's bed and quietly talked to him. The one thing to get Zak's attention was when Joey mumbled something about juvenile hall, and he asked him what he meant by that. Joey's tired eyes went wide, then he cursed briefly, before letting out a resigned sigh.

"If you have the patience I guess I have a story to tell you...I...got into trouble in the past..." And he took a deep breath to prepare himself for the story to come.

**end chapter 3**

Wow...sorry I took so long...been a weird couple months lately let me tell you...sorry if anything sucks..I will keep saying I'm an artist first XD

Please let me know what you think as always..but no flames please! And yes, I do all of the stuff regarding this story myself, including watching episode clips and such for even the smallest bit of info. Also..don't hate me for the ending to this chapter! I have to make it fun once and awhile yes?


	4. Joey's Juvenile Jaunt

**authors note: I may only have a few fans, but I'm simply overjoyed to have even one...even if you don't comment, you make my day by "watching" this story. Thank you to you all! I don't own the G.A.C crew obviously...but it should be obvious who I do (Joey and Bastion, etc). Anyway...on to the chapter! This one is just a short filler chapter really...**

** Blue Spirit 4: Joey's Juvenile Jaunt**

"I have a story to tell...and it doesn't make me out to be the good guy...nor do I deserve to be seen as such after what I did.." The shivering teen turned his dark blue eyes to the ceiling, not willing to look at the other three while telling the story. "It stars when I was just barely 16..."

***FLASHBACK***

_Joey walked down the street to his cousins house, wearing black up to his head. When he reached it, he picked the back doors lock with a thin piece of some sort of wire, and opened the door. Behind him, his cousin's boyfriends former boss walked in, also in the same sort of outfit. The only difference was the handgun in the older mans belt. The man tossed a cigarette to the dirt outside, and closed the back door behind him. Then a sickening grin worked it's way onto his face. Joey shuddered inside at the sight, but quickly shook it off. _

_ He was here because his jealousy over the attention his slightly younger cousin, Crystal, got. He was already bitter as it was, and the new emotion pushed him over the edge. The older man hid in a side corner, and they both waited for Crystal to come home. When she did, she wasn't alone. This didn't deter her boyfriend's former boss. If anything he was happier to have more people to hold hostage. She came in with her boyfriend Sean and his younger black haired brother, Kage. _

_ The older man made a noise by accident, and it got Crystal's attention. She got up to check as Sean and Kage talked to each other. Then the man struck. With a painful crack that made even Joey wince despite his jealousy and anger, she was hit across the face with the butt of the man's gun, and then she collapsed to the floor, out cold, her lip split and bleeding. _

_ The older man walked out, his handgun pointed at other two in the room Crystal came from._

_ "You won't be going anywhere...!" Sean's face twisted into an angry scowl, but there was little he could do..yet, versus a gun. Kage stood a ways behind his older brother, fists clenching and unclenching. Joey stood out of sight, and glanced at his cousin's motionless form. Joey knew if his family found out what he was there for, and why, he was dead meat if he was lucky. He turned away, and then there was a terrible pain in the back of his head. Before his vision faded to black, he saw his cousin's boots in his line of vision, and heard her voice, laced with pure anger, speaking._

_ "How does it feel to get hit in the head now cousin?" she growled. Before the oldest man could react, she did the same to him, and all he did was stumble. It was enough of a distraction, and their three "hostages" ran up the stairs and out of view. Sean's former boss followed them, and Joey dragged himself into a sitting position, leaning against a coffee table. He was still seeing stars, when he heard the gunshot, a single shot, go off._

_ He then realized just what he had done, letting the older man in. he heard his cousin shout for her boyfriend, and she sounded terrified and desperate. Joey had a nagging feeling what had just happened, and the guilt soon became damned near unbearable. Not long after, before he could get up to try and stop this before someone died, another shot rang out. This one was stronger, and came from a rifle. It was followed by a sickening splatter and the sound of a body hitting the carpet beneath it. Someone else had just been shot. But Joey wasn't sure who. He didn't get a shot to find out, when two police officers kicked the door in. One followed his cousin's voice to the upper floor, and the other put him to the ground in handcuffs._

_ He was still a juvenile, and while he didn't do the worst crime, he was still in serious trouble in more than one way. He knew it when the officer led him into his father's office where he worked, still cuffed. His dad, who had hair like his, had his arms folded across his chest as he glared at his son._

_ "Father I..." His father lifted a hand to cut him off._

_ "I can no longer handle you Joey. I don't know what I did to make you this way, but enough is enough. Since I can't keep a handle on your actions anymore, I have no choice. It's juvenile hall for you for a year" Joey's eyes went wide and he opened his mouth, but his father said nothing, only signaling for the officer to take him away. _

_ The time seemed to pass slowly at times, and fast at others. Before he knew it..he was a month away from being released. A few months earlier he received videos of his chosen category. The videos were about the paranormal, and those who investigated it. The videos ended up changing parts of himself, but the inner anger lingered. During that last month he made a pair of special goggles, having earned the ability to do so with surprisingly good behavior. It was the same goggles he would later wear on his own investigations as well as during his time as a contest winner. He debated going to the hospital to visit a certain someone, but couldn't do it, the guilt still weighing his mind down. She wouldn't want to see him after what he did...and when he got the news he'd won the contest to join the G.A.C, he took off as soon as it came time..._

_ *_**End FLASHBACK***

"And that's it...a bit c-condensed...but that's how I g-got to where I a-am now...I..I haven't talked to anyone back home since I l-left to join you guys at Bastion's Mine..." He was still shivering, but not as much as before. He spoke two more words..and then he was suddenly asleep. "I'm sorry..." It wasn't clear who those two words were meant for. It could have been for anyone. The bed covers moved a tiny bit as Zak stood, surprisingly quiet. He looked at his fellow team members, all of them in shocked silence. He had to think on what he was told for awhile...but he did say one word.

"Damn..." was all he said, glancing at the sleeping teen on the nearby bed. He wasn't sure what to do now. All he could do was think about it. He ran a hand through his hair, then exited the room in silence. Aaron and Nick remained briefly, then they too left. After they did, Bastion faded into view, gazing sadly at Joey.

"I had no idea..." he said to himself. He wasn't going anywhere though. He had to protect the teen, even though he wasn't really sure why yet. He hoped the older trio didn't send the teenager home yet...he had a lot of time to go yet with the three of them.

**end chapter**

Sorry for the wait...had some deaths in the family and I had no spirit for drawing..let alone writing. Hence the reason this is rather short. Anyways...hoping to have them go to that axe murder house next..the one that starts with a V. can't remember the name. Let me know what you think..but no flames. And thanks again to all who are watching this story or reading it. I do appreciate it!


	5. Bastion's Bane

**authors note: I finally decided to have Bastion be revealed to the rest of the team in this chapter. As per usual only certain characters are mine, but anyone who is a real person or otherwise is not. Please read and review if you wish..but no flame! On to the story!**

** Blue Spirit Chapter 5: Bastion's Bane**

After the incident in Italy, things were different in some way after the 4 men flew back to the united states. Zak was himself, true, but in other ways he wasn't quite as he had been before he heard the teenager's story a few days earlier. He was quiet, a bit unusual, for a couple of days. Sure, he talked, but not as much. After a couple days passed, he seemed like his normal self. But Joey had a nagging suspicion he was hiding something, very well to be exact.

Bastion wasn't much better. When he heard they'd be making a return trip to Gettysburg, this time with special permission to investigate the actual battlefield, he'd gone very quiet. More so than usual. And frankly, Joey was tired of it. The ghost never answered any questions about why he was acting the way he was, and when he did say anything it was barely anything at all.

After another few days of Bastion's near silence, Joey had finally had enough of it. It was time to get serious. If he had to reveal the spirit's presence to the other three, then so be it. Enough was enough. He said as much one of the times the ghost actually appeared like he normally did. The spirit's eyes went wide, but then he sighed, resigned to the fact that whether he liked it or not, it was time to tell the other men he was here, and what his problem had been the past few days.

"Okay..enough is enough!" he eventually blurted out, while in the company of the other three men he'd been traveling with for about a month now. They all started with surprise, but before they could say anymore, Joey continued on. "Does one of you have a fresh voice recorder that can allow us to hear voices as soon as they can be?" Zak blinked, but he nodded, and pulled such a device from a bag by the table they were sitting around. Behind Joey, Bastion fidgeted, but he'd seen this coming, and had briefly cussed at his own stupidity, before resigning himself to the fact that he was to "show" himself to the other people finally. As soon as the device was on and on the table, Joey started talking again.

"Alright...I've had enough. I'm sick of not being able to mention you. Now speak, and tell them your name, and just how long you've been with us" Zak's mouth started to open, to ask Joey what he meant, but then he froze in place, along with Nick and Aaron, when the smooth, and slightly rich voice came on over the device. The voice even had a southern accent to it.

"...my name is Bastion. I've been with you four since you checked out the abandoned mine about a month ago. And I was there on that Italian island when all the bad things went on..."

The three oldest men just stared at the device in shock, not quite believing what they were hearing. This was definitely not a residual spirit, no, this one was beyond intelligent. Joey narrowed his eyes.

"Now...what the hell is with your behavior whenever we mention the sight of the worst battle in the Civil War?" He saw the spirit flinch again out of the corner of his right eye.

There was a pause, but then the shocking answer came, the spirit's voice still smooth, but a sad undertone going through it.

"I...participated in the Battle of Gettysburg...and..not on the Union side...I was a Confederate soldier...I was one of the thousands and thousands who died on that field...and when I lay dying of a fatal shot...I began to regret what I'd done until then...killing people who were fighting for what they believed like I was was stupid..." The voice trailed off, and Joey caught the spirits ghostly ice blue eyes sliding shut, as he began to look regretful, and thoughtful. "I've been paying the price for it ever since...or it was...until I encountered you four at the old mine where I was hiding..."The ghost, unseen by the other three as always, turned to Joey. "I saw Joey...and I saw a lot of myself in him before my death...angry...hurting...lost...and I knew I had to do something...so I began to follow you...mostly him...everywhere you went..even Italy..." The spirit sighed, then finished. "But..that's why I've been...off...so to speak...that battlefield is like my bane...I can barely stand to think of it..or look at it..." With that, Bastion was done. Joey spoke next.

"Then maybe you should go back to it with us and actually face it, instead of hiding from it or acting weird when it's mentioned..." And inside his own head he added 'I should talk..have my own problems I should face...but I'm not there...yet...'

"...Maybe" That was as close to a yes as he was going to get out of the ghost, and he knew that. Joey then stretched, keeping his mouth shut to stifle a rather large yawn, as Zak turned the little device off. It was getting late, and they had a flight to the airport nearest to Gettysburg in the morning. They all stood, and briefly exchanged good nights, with a surprised comment here and there, and then split up to go to their rooms.

Once Joey was in bed, the covers up to his eyeballs practically, his muffled voice could be heard once more. "I'm sorry...but I had no choice...enough...was" here he yawned "enough..." he voice trailed off as he quickly fell asleep. By the moonlight window, a see through figure stood, looking outside, up at the stars above.

"I know..." Bastion knew Joey was right. He had to face his "fear" of the field where he died, once and for all. It would be hard, but he had a deep rooted feeling that with these four, it would be a lot easier for some reason.

END CHAPTER 5!


	6. Gettysburg Ghosts

** authors note: I am honestly surprised at how many people like this! Anyways..as we know...only Bastion, Joey, and any other non-real people are mine..I don't own any of the real people. Enjoy!**

** Chapter 6: Gettysburg Ghosts**

Joey yawned, and with a quick stretch, sat up in the hotel bed he was on. The sun peeked through the nearby curtains, making him blink briefly. He sat in a half asleep post nap daze, until he realized where he was now again. Then he attempted to jump up to look out the window. The key word being attempted. His luck was not good, and one foot got caught in the comforter laying partially on the floor. Down he went, landing on his face with a muffled thump, due to the floor being carpeted thankfully.

"Bah...I haven't done that in awhile..."he grumbled after getting back to his feet. He peered out the window and saw only a few clouds here and there in the sky, which was just starting to go dark. That meant investigating the actual battlefield would be done on a clear night hopefully. The state of the sky also meant the others would be there to get him soon, so he rushed himself in getting ready. Which only consisted of a quick brush of his teeth and hair, and a quick change of clothes. Lastly he slipped his self made goggles on, and he was good to go. He sipped at a half full cup of water, and eventually the knock came, along with Zak's familiar voice telling him it was time to go to the battlefield. Doing a quick fist pump and a silent "Finally!" Joey left his hotel room and followed Zak to the rental van outside.

He hopped into the back, next to Nick, and as the van moved towards the battlefield, he began to fidget and even bounce in his seat. This earned him a grin from his fellow backseat passenger, but he paid him no mind. He couldn't help the constant movements, he was extremely excited about this one. Nearby, Bastion watched Joey's movements, which oddly enough were helping to keep him from disappearing while they were here. He'd never seen Joey this excited or happy, and he wanted to be there to see it...plus he had to be in case something went wrong like it did on Povelgia Island. He never wanted to fail like that again. Ever.

It didn't seem like it took long at all for the blue sky to turn dark as night fell, and soon the only lights they had to see by were the moon, and their camera screens. Or in Joey's case he had his self made night vision, heat seeking goggles. They spread out, but still stayed within "sight" of each other, as the field was massive, and it would be easy to lose track of someone, in pitch black darkness at least. The only one to move further away from the others than any of them was Bastion, but he didn't do it more than once. He didn't like this situation, only because he'd actually fought here, and died on the last day of the battle. Being a southern soldier didn't help matters either. He kept expecting Union spirits to pop out with every breath he could see the living people take. It was cooler, so their breath was like steam, and visible in the night air, in a matter of speaking, since all they had was very little night vision after all.

He faintly heard Zak, Nick, and Aaron gently asking questions like they always do, while he watched Joey turn his head slightly from side to side, scanning the field with his unique goggles. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a flash of dark blue, and realized it was a Union spirit. Inwardly asking Joey to forgive him, Bastion instantly faded out of view of anybody, living or not. He still didn't have it in him to show himself when other Civil War spirits were about. If it made him a coward, so be it. When Joey turned around he noticed Bastion's absence, and let out what was half a growl, half a sigh, if that was at all possible.

"...I should have known he wouldn't stick around to.." He cut himself off as he caught a flash of movement with his heat vision turned on now. "What the hell...? Is that..." He quickly lifted his camera to record in the direction of the movement. All he could see was the grass moving with a slight breeze. But he could have sworn he saw someone or something a second ago. "Damn...missed it.." he grumbled. Then came the ridiculously loud gunshot sound, which out of instinct made him duck. He wasn't the only one. Zak, Nick, and Aaron all reacted in a similar manner, their shocked calls ringing out over the massive field. It looks like the spirits had come out to play, briefly. The gunshot was clearly the sound of a very old rifle firing. The kind used back in the Civil War time period. Then there was a second one, almost in response to the first. Joey could hear Zak asking questions after both shots, trying to catch any other sounds they couldn't hear on his recorder.

"Wow...unbelievable.." Joey mumbled, getting up to his feet from where he'd been kneeling after the ghostly shots went off.

"I'm not surprised...I think I brought them out...because if I recall correctly they never do this...not beyond a voice recording here and there" came Bastion's voice from the side. Joey scoffed.

"There you are. I thought you said you'd try to.."

"I know. I know. It's not that easy alright...? I've lived with my guilt for so long after all. Surely you can understand how hard that is..."

"...I can" mumbled Joey walking towards Zak after hearing his name called. Bastion winced, realizing how what he said came out.

"I didn't mean to.." Joey lifted a hand, pretty much silently saying forget it, or that he no longer wanted to talk. Bastion looked at the grass below his see through feet, and exhaled quietly to himself.

"Well done Bastion...be an ass to someone who only tried to help.." He followed Joey to Zak at a distance, sure that he'd be unwelcome now. The two living men talked quietly, then switched places in a sense. Joey went in the same direction Zak had been going, and Zak went to where Joey was before. Faintly one could hear crickets and a dog bark in the distance, but other then that everything was perfectly quiet now. Within a few more hours, the sun began to rise, signaling the end of their visit. Hopefully the gunshots were caught on camera or on a recorder, and hopefully there was something else they missed too. As they were leaving Bastion trailed behind. He looked over one shoulder, and saw a few of the spirits watching, that only he could see. All were in uniform, and one, a confederate like he was in life, lifted a hand up in a sort of salute, before they all disappeared. That wasn't what he expected to happen when he was finally noticed. He expected some sort of angry response, but was wrong. Turning away from where the spirits had been, he blinked, then a sort of smirk made it's way onto his see through face.

"What are you smiling about?" came Joey's voice from next to him suddenly. Bastion jerked out of his thoughts, and looked at the teenager next to him.

"oh..nothing.." he mumbled, slightly embarrassed for some reason. Joey's eyebrows went up, and an "I'm not fooled" sort of expression came onto his face. But he said nothing. He only shrugged and jogged ahead to catch back up with the others. Bastion looked at the clear sky, which was getting lighter by the minute, and shut his eyes briefly, taking an un-needed deep breath of relief and joy. He wasn't as hated as he thought he'd be, even by the Union spirits he'd seen as well.

After driving back to their hotel, the living members of the group took quick naps, before checking over everything they recorded that night. To their immense surprise and happiness, the two gunshots were indeed caught, on Aaron's evp recorder. Joey gave a silent fist pump of victory, and Bastion shook his head with amusement. Literally right after they were done checking the stuff, Joey's cell phone rang, playing "Club Can't Handle Me Now" as the ring tone signalling a text message had come in. He stood and said he'd be right back, before walking out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him. Bastion quietly walked around, looking at the technology he'd never seen before, being from the time period he was and all. It was all amazing in his long dead eyes. He was startled by a loud bang, like something hitting a wall, then the sound of a slamming door. Zak got up to look outside the room. Joey was gone, but his phone was on the floor where he had been. Zak picked up the device, and Bastion noted a dent in the wall by the door frame, like something hit it hard.

"..oh man..." came the stunned sound of Zak's voice. Bastion spun to find him looking at a text message on Joey's phone. It was unintentional, but it was plain as day. And it wasn't good. Bastion leaned closer to look, and mouthed the words to himself without a sound.

"Son..it's your dad...respond when you can. It's your mother..it's..it's not good...so please..."

End of Chapter 6!

hate me now if you want...but I had to end it this way...sorry! Review if you want..but no flames please! Thanks!


	7. Missing Mom

**authors note: FINALLY! A new chapter...! Sorry about the wait..was a bad few months. Lost my grandpa (mom's dad), and then my computer that had all my files (I do not write them in a notebook first...i really should) died completely..so I had to wait and then get a new one. But here I am! Only Joey and Bastion ( so far) are mine..the G.A.C belong to themselves of course!**

** Chapter 7: Missing Mom**

Only a few hours had passed since Joey stormed out and rode off in a hurry on his motorcycle, after a terrible text his father had sent him on his cell phone about his mother. Bastion kept pacing back and forth in front of the window in the room the four of them had previously been in. Zak was silently going over video evidence at the small table nearby, while Nick and Aaron were each on a bed end listening to audio for anything of use. Joey's cell phone sat innocently on the end table next to the left most bed, closest to the room door. This room doubled as Joey's room, hence why his stuff was everywhere practically.

After a few more minutes of silence, Joey suddenly made his reappearance, his movement jerky, and slow, only because he kept stumbling into the nearest furniture or wall. His eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, and Bastion's brow furrowed. Something wasn't quite right with how Joey was moving or acting.

"Joey..." he started to say, but Zak cut him off, standing rather quickly from where he'd been sitting as Joey stumbled past him towards the window seat. He'd caught the faint smell of alcohol, more than likely beer. How the 17 year old got was a mystery, but it also shouldn't have happened, regardless of how angry or upset the teen was. He put his hand on the youngest man's shoulder, and jerk him backwards and around, away from the window. Not with enough force to bruise or harm him at all, but it was enough to make the teenager face him. Joey just stared with his red tinted eyes, his expression slowly turning angry.

"What the hell kid? How the hell did you get someone to give you alcohol? And why the hell would you drive a motorcycle in this condition?" Zak wasn't extremely angry per-say, just very disappointed and shocked. Joey snorted. "Regardless of what's probably happening to your mother...this isn't the way to.." He had to dodge to one side as Joey abruptly tossed a rather strong punch his way.

"You..you don't talk about my mother! You have no..no right! IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" he growled, the last part almost, but not quite a growl. Bastion gazed on at the proceedings sadly. This reminded him of when his oldest brother had died in a horse back riding accident, and he was out of it himself for weeks it had felt like. He'd nearly run amok himself, but a stern talking to from his beloved uncle had stopped him in his tracks. Joey may have done something already, but Bastion hoped Zak could keep him from doing more. He then clenched his teeth, and focused all he had. He'd never done this before, but fellow spirits had mentioned being able to turn solid..sort of...for a short period of time at a time. When he heard startled gasps, he knew he'd pulled it off. But he felt tired too, so he knew he'd remain visible for only a short time.

Joey was now turned away from Zak, his eyes shut tight, as he fought against what he considered traitor tears. An unfamiliar hand settled on one shoulder, and he turned to tell whoever it was off, only to come face to face with a very visible Bastion.

The three who had never seen him before could only stare wide eyed as the "spirit" touched Joey, without going through him. Bastion's hair was short without being too short, and wild, fluffed out and spiky all over the place. It may have been curled when he was alive. It was also a medium shade of brown. His "clothes" were all black, down to his civil war era boots.

"Joey..." his voice was strong, and his southern accent more obvious. "Enough..." Those two words were all it took. Joey's head hit Bastion's chest, a hand clenched into the spirit's black shirt, as Bastion's arms came up around Joey in a comforting hug. All he could make out from the distraught teenager was a simple phrase, repeated a few times, "I miss my mother..." Bastion just held Joey quietly, but he felt his strength fading quickly. Holding himself like this in solid form as taking it's toll. But it was worth it. He gently pushed Joey back eventually, and looked down at him, he stood nearly a head taller than the teenager after all, as the teen looked up with even more bloodshot eyes.

"You can't let yourself...get...that pent up...again...y' hear?" He waited for a slight nod, then let go of Joey's shoulders. "Good..now...rest...it will do a world..of..good..." He sort of yawned himself, then he was gone, once more unseen. Even Joey couldn't see him, as he had so little energy left. He was there, Joey could feel the subtle difference in the air where he was.

"...Thank you..." he said quietly. Joey hadn't even noticed that the others had quietly left when Bastion held onto him, but he quietly thanked them for the "respect" as it was, not that he deserved it. He slowly trudged over to the nearest bed and fell onto it, bell to the mattress. He turned his head to look at the nearby window, as another tear quietly slid down his cheek. He sent silent apology and an I miss you to his sick mother, who had been the one to get him hooked on the paranormal and supernatural when he was a child. He had to keep going for her...but sometimes it was hard, especially with her being so sick. It was a long night for him, but eh eventually went to sleep, albeit the crying yourself to sleep type of sleep. His only comfort was a soothing invisible presence near the table by a nearby wall.

End chapter! Sorry it's short...I knew it would be. And in regards to Bastion he will come to mean quite a lot to Joey! Going to do Waverly Hills for their next place to be locked into..maybe! Stay tuned :)


	8. Wicked Waverly

** authors note: New chapter..yay! Same disclaimers as always! Also, I don't remember most of what went on in specific episodes, so locations will be my own take on events, and whatI think COULD happen. This is fiction technically..after all. Anyways..On with the show!**

** Chapter 8: Wicked Waverly**

It was now a few days after the drunk Joey incident where Bastion made himself visible, and the group was on their way to another location. This time it was a rather big one, and with a bit of a history. Besides Gettysburg, it was a place Joey had always wanted to check out. He was riding his motorcycle just ahead of the van carrying the Ghost Adventures Crew, so when they got there, he was the first to see it as he rounded a bend.

It was an absolutely monstrous building, made up of a couple of large wings at least. And that was what Joey could tell from the front of the place. Lifting his helmets visor, he couldn't believe just how big the place was. And it was quiet, but being abandoned or closed as it was, he wasn't too surprised about that. He got the feeling it wouldn't stay that way though, at least not once they were locked in and it was night time. He chained his motorcycle up like usual, and he could feel Bastion behind his, unseen to all but him as usual, also looking up at the massive building.

"...I've never seen a place like this..." the spirit said. That was no surprise, as he had died in battle long before the place was even built, at least Joey thought so, as he didn't know exactly when the place was built. He was pretty sure it was after Bastion died at least. He agreed with the spirit in a sense, as he'd never seen it up close, only in pictures and on television around Halloween.

"I've always wanted to see this place in person..." Joey said, not adding the rest of what he wanted to say, for fear of upsetting the ghost who had slowly become his friend. He thought it though 'just like I did with Gettysburg...' He moved forward and joined the others on the normal tour of the place, and he flinched when he heard the amount of poor people who died in the building, especially the children. He'd learned about the TB outbreaks in school before he went to juvenile, and he'd always found it horrible and depressing. He could only imagine how the people sent here felt.

When the tour was over, after hearing about an odd shadow creature that was supposedly seen quite often, the G.A.C set up their X's, and set up their "base camp" where water and some snacks were kept. Then not long after, dusk fell, and they were locked in, with a soft good luck from the person who did so. Joey reached up and fiddled with his self made night vision headgear, turning it on, and sliding it down to rest over his eyes, so he could see. He caught Bastion's faint outline at one point, and knew the spirit was up to his old 'gotta protect you' tricks. He tolerated it though, because so few had ever done something like it for him.

He volunteered to check out the body chute, and got a reluctant okay from Zak, before he waved a two fingered sort of wave, heading in that direction. When he reached it, he went a few steps in and then stopped, lifting a small recording device and hitting the on button gently. Soon enough he was surrounded with darkness, and thanking whoever was above that he'd remembered to put his self-made goggles on earlier.

"God...I'm dead and this place is getting to me already!" he heard Bastion say quietly from somewhere behind him. A message came over the walkie-talkie at Joey's hip that said Nick and Aaron where still on the same floor as the "camp" for now, and Zak was up two more floors. Time passed slowly it felt like, but out of nowhere Joey tripped on something his goggles didn't catch, and did a rather painful face plant onto the stone "steps" leading down through the tunnel.

"OW! Mother fucker!" he yelled as his nose hit the hard surface. He got up onto his knees, and put a hand up to his nose, which was now bleeding rather badly. It wasn't broken, he could tell that all too easily thanks to all the fights he'd been in, but it did hurt like hell. He got up, and tilted to the wall side briefly, a little dazed by the fall apparently. He waited it out, then turned to see what the hell he could have tripped over. Keeping his hand over his nose that didn't seem to want to stop bleeding, he noticed there was nothing there. And he'd been careful with his steps and where he stopped. Growling, he headed back up the tunnel.

"I guess somethin' wanted my attention or whatever...and it fuckin' got it" he grumbled, blood just slightly seeping between his gloved fingers now. "Damn this hurts...as much as if it was broken...which it isn't" he added the last part, feeling that Bastion was about to ask if it was. He came out of the dark tunnel, just as Zak came down the stairs to the bottom floor where the "camp" was located. The older man noticed the blood, and quickly directed the teenager to the first aid kit in the "camp", making him sit, with his head tilted back. Zak dug through the kit, and pulled out a wad of gauze, tearing some off and handing it to Joey, who promptly shoved it up against his nose, carefully, and pinched, breathing deeply through his mouth as he did.

"What the hell happened?" asked Zak, and Joey answered, sounding mildly silly, but still understandable.

"Something decided to make me face plant, hard, in the body chute. It was either a patient being a joker, or being a dick" The teen grumbled, the blood finally slowly it's flow down as it started coming to a halt. "Soon as this here nosebleed quits...whatever it is will get it..." He lifted the gauze, which was now almost entirely red, from his nose. "Has it stopped?" Zak glanced at the teen's face briefly. It was stained with blood, which was darkening as it dried, but there was no longer anything bright or fresh.

"Looks like it, but I'd like you to wait for awhile before going back into the tunnel..I'll send Nick and Aaron in temporarily" Zak lifted his hand to stop the protest he knew was coming as the teen opened his mouth, and called the other two over the hand held walkie-talkie he was carrying, telling them where to go. Joey heard Aaron's response, and Nick saying something about "okay", then Zak turned back to face him. "Did that...ghost..friend of yours see anything before you fell?" Zak was referring to Bastion being able to see other spirits, being one himself. Joey shook his head, then blinked as the mentioned spirit suddenly rushed passed Zak, who blinked at the sudden breeze.

"I'll give it a guess and say that was him going by me..but why was he going so fast...wait..the guys!" Zak called them on the little hand held machine like before, but got no answer. "Damnit..." he turned and ran for the body shoot, a slightly dazed but otherwise alright Joey following not far behind. Zak got a big shock when he arrived in the body chute, as Aaron and Nick watched. They couldn't film, as something has completely sapped their cameras battery power. It was pretty easy to see what it might have been. Bastion was visible, and seemed to be grappling, hand to "hand", with some sort of black shadowy figure. The former confederate soldier's body was outline in a sort of see through blue fire like energy, while the other "ghost" was solid black.

The shoving match as it was escalated rather fast when the shade, as Joey was silently calling it, managed to throw Bastion further down the tunnel. It turned to them, and rushed right for them, yelling in a language or something that Joey couldn't understand a word of. It had almost reached them when Bastion hit it from behind, both ghosts passing right through Joey as he did, making the teen shiver with the sudden change in temperature. All 4 living men spun to keep their eyes on the two, when the shade made a screeching noise that made them put their hands up over their ears. Bastion stumbled backwards, and hit the wall, without going through. Even when he was "solid" so to speak he still sank into walls if he tried to lean on them. Bastion didn't stay down long though. As a stunned Joey watched, he seemed to hit the shade, hard, and Joey couldn't almost hear the collision of first on 'face' as the good spirit did this. The shade screeched again, and turning, vanished into the frigid tunnel air. Bastion stumbled again, and faded away, at a shockingly rapid pace.

Now Joey couldn't even feel his presence, and it hurt. He hated the fact that it hurt, but it did regardless. He'd gotten used to and even begun to enjoy the spirit's company and quiet companionship.

"Bastion...?" he whispered, getting no answer. Zak decided enough was enough. No matter how excited they were about this lock-down, they would do no more. He took them all back to 'camp', and radioed for someone to come let them out, as quickly as possible. Right around twenty minutes after he made the call, they were let out, carrying their supplies and gear. Joey was oddly silent, his eyes somewhat wide with what looked like a form of shock, or something very similar. If anyone had looked closer, they'd see a light watery sheen covering them as well. He shook his head, grinding his teeth together, before jamming his helmet down over his head and lowering the visor. Underneath, his vision blurred, as a steady stream of moisture made it's way out of his left eye. He jumped onto his motorcycle, and was gone from Waverly before the other living men could even blink. Zak had watched the teenager leave with no small amount of concern, before starting the van he was driving and pulling out long after the motorcycle had left. He could see the path the bike had gone in the dirt road he had to go down briefly before turning onto asphalt. It seemed to weave briefly, and there was a track on the regular road as if someone had turned very quickly.

Further down the road, Joey was blinking rapidly, trying to keep his vision clear. Not only was he upset over the ghost vanishing, long withheld tears over his sick mother were finally coming out as well. He was mid-blink he came up on the sharp curve they'd turned down earlier, and he didn't see it coming in time to make the turn. By the time his vision cleared it was too late, and when he tried to make it, he hit the edge of the road, and his bike rolled, taking him with it. He couldn't even yell properly, before the bike stopped moving, landing on top of him, pinning his body down, and trapping one arm, his left, against his back. His helmet was cracked near the top middle where it struck a rock, but thankfully he didn't have a head injury underneath. He could barely move, let alone lift his head to weakly call for help. His motorcycle was barely visible from the road, only part of the front tire could be seen. He coughed, and could just make out the bitter metallic taste of blood. He'd bitten clean through his lip when he went down. He weakly lifted his head again, and barely called "help" again before having to put I back down. He could now feel pain radiating from the arm pinned to his back. It was terrible, and he had a nagging feeling it was cracked or broken.

"H..help me...please...? he whispered. The wind faintly rustled the leaves of the trees around him, and that was the only response he was getting. "Please...please..." He nearly whimpered right after saying that. He eventually started fading in and out of being awake, the pain doing a number on his currently battered body. He barely noticed the sound of tires screeching to a halt on asphalt, or the frantic shouting that came with it.

No..he had to rest...and with that his eyes slid shut under his helmet, just as someone flipped the visor up to look at him, trying to get his attention, and also trying to keep him awake. Then, darkness. Wonderful darkness...

End of chapter!

Don't hate me...it's not what it seems I swear! Sorry for the wait...since the last chapter I lost one of my grandparents (my mom's dad), and didn't feel much like writing. I'll try to make the wait shorter next time..I promise. R & R, and no flames!


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